Something New Appendices
by Loki Firefox
Summary: Appendices to Something New. My world-building notes to this Alternate Universe.
1. Introduction

Introduction

I've been working on the third chapter of my story, Something New (which I'm thinking of retitling), but I end up writing about the world instead of forwarding the plot. I like world-building very much but it shouldn't get in the way of telling the story and I'm not good enough yet to do both simultaneously without turning my dialogues into wikipedia entries.

Now I know this is basically not allowed in ffnet but since they don't allow for appendices in their format, I hope to squeeze by.

The information here is not necessary to forward the plot, if it is then I'll place it in the story proper. Instead this is to stem my verbal diarrhea and allow this come out without interfering with the proper flow of my story. Besides, I'm rather proud of my world-building and I kinda want to show off.

In the spirit of fanfiction, all this is up for grabs. If you want to use any of this, please feel free to do so just acknowledge me somewhere and we're all good.

All the information here will be in posted at pace with the story to avoid spoilers. When Harry learns something new, I'll update the corresponding entry. I'm thinking of giving each section/article its own chapter so it's easy to find and identify.

Unless otherwise stated, all my entries are fanon and written precisely to be used in my story. My primary reference for canon material is the Harry Potter Wiki. I know it's not as accurate as the HP Lexicon but it's easier to use so I'm using that instead. I'm not writing a dissertation here, for fanfiction-writing purposes, it'll serve.

Finally since the people who are here have an interest in world-building and perhaps curious to see how they can use my material for their own fics can I just please remind them that's it's DOLORES Umbridge, not Delores? Please? For Harry's sake it's not rocket science and it's not like you can't find this out. It doesn't matter if you don't have the books, if you can post it on the internet you can check out IMDb, the HP Lexicon and the Harry Potter Wiki. It drives me up the wall! Thank you.


	2. The Magical United States

**The Magical United States**

The US is not a utopia of magicals living harmoniously with non-magicals. They don't have it all figured out and they are not technomancers nor do they have schools which makes more sense than Hogwarts (see Magical Education).

Unlike most countries in Europe, where for the most part the magical side runs parallel to the non-magical side (for example, magical UK occupies the same political boundaries as the non-magical UK), the magical US is not one country being run by one government.

The magical population is small, this is true world-wide so they cannot occupy the entire North America, even the part that belongs to the US. It's not possible, even with magic. Instead, the US is made up of independent enclaves, some as small as villages to as large as several states that trade, and sometimes even war, with each other. These magical enclaves are formed either because of similar cultures, similar ideologies, similar ethnicities or similar magical traditions (or any combination of the above).

Most of the magicals who immigrated to the US did so to escape Europe. The English magicals left the UK to escape the pure-blood agenda much like the Puritans left the UK because of religious persecution. Other people also left Europe to colonize what would be known as the US for different reasons: finding their fortune, escaping religious/political/cultural persecution, etc. There are more magicals in the US but they are spread out and they definitely aren't united. And some of these enclaves don't even occupy one territory but are spread out (see the Republic of Roanoke and Croatan).

Unlike their non-magical counterparts, the European wizards found a strong magical race that resisted their entry and while their non-magical counterparts successfully colonized the Eastern United States, the magicals had to fight the natives for every bit of territory.

Blaine's family live in the Republic of Roanoke and Croatan, which is more or less comprised of the New England states and some parts of upstate New York, as well as the cities of San Francisco and Seattle and Greenwich Village. They have their own version of the Wizengamot but it's split into two parts: the Caucus, which is the legislative branch, and the Justices, which is the judiciary. There is an executive branch but it's not presided by a single individual but by a tribunal.

Counting little villages and isolated communites (think Children of the Corn and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre), there are hundreds of enclaves all over the US. Each with their own way of running things, each with their own magical traditions. The only thing everyone agrees on is the Statute of Secrecy.

The Pure-blood Agenda, while it exists in the Republic, is a small, quiet minority. This is because most of the settlers left England precisely to get away from it so the majority of the people who are in the Republic are the ones who don't agree with it. The "purity" of blood is not what matters but how rich the family is and how long they have been in the Republic. The Andersons are considered an elite family because they were in the second wave of immigrants to what was then the "colonies" and because there are members of that family who have been outstanding statesmen, educators and so on.

While there is a bit of condescension felt towards non-magicals, there is also a healthy fear of them as well. Unlike the English Pure-bloods, their American counterparts are well aware what a "Muggle" can do. Most magicals have homes that a non-magical will be comfortable in and most magicals (especially those that live in the cities) are comfortable in the non-magical world. There are enclaves that reject all forms of technology (think Amish with spells) or prefer magic to technology but they aren't the majority and these communities aren't very large.

Marrying non-magicals have seen the word "Muggle" die out. It's hard to use that word (which sounds patronizing and slightly insulting) when your own mother or husband might be one. So the term "magical" and "non-magical" are used instead ("mundane" was in vogue for awhile but it has fallen out of use). Whenever Blaine hears Harry use "Muggle", he doesn't find it insulting, but he does find it amusing. It's like talking to your friend and he refers to cars as "horseless carriages" or computers as "counting machines" or people referring to asians as "orientals". It's an old word fallen out of use (and yes, still slightly insulting but Blaine is aware that he's in England now, he doesn't have to use the word but he's too well-mannered to impose his value system on others).

**Important Places**

Arkham – the largest settlement with a purely magical population (no non-magicals). It's larger than Hogsmeade and resembles a university town. This is where Miskatonic University is located. Because of the number of students from different enclaves (and different countries), Arkham is one of the safest places in the magical US. No one wants to start anything, especially with their children going to school there. It is possibly the most important territory of the Republic and has pretty much influenced their policy of being open-minded (to be prejudiced would mean less students, less students would bring in less revenue).

Salem – contains the second largest population of magicals in the US but they are hidden in pockets within the city of Salem (like Diagon Alley in London). This is the capital of Roanoke and Croatan and home to the Salem Witches' Institute (co-educational since 1905, every ten years or so there is a petition to change the name to either the Salem Institute of Magic or just the Salem Institute but so far it hasn't passed although most people call it the Salem Institute of Magic, the name hasn't officially changed yet).

New York City – a free city. No one enclave can lay claim to this city, instead there are areas within that belong to different enclaves. Greenwich Village, for example, is part of Roanoke and Croatan. This city has the largest population of magicals in the US, possibly in the entire North America. It is, however, a lawless city. The only law that is followed is the Statute of Secrecy. For the most part it is civilized but if you go out into territory not ruled by your enclave, you are on your own.

Miskatonic University – (see Magical Education) one of the largest schools of magic in the world. They teach the Hermetic Tradition (see Magical Traditions) but also have faculty members that teach other traditions as electives. They have students from different enclaves so Arkham is considered neutral territory although it is policed by constables from Roanoke and Croatan.

There are huge parts of North America (not just the US) that are unclaimed by the enclaves. Either because they hold no interest to the magicals or because they lack the manpower to oversee it. These are called "the Badlands" not because they are evil or corrupted but because there is no help to be found here. You are on your own. There are magical beasts that roam free and other magical beings that have piggy-backed with the other immigrants and moved out into the wilderness and are unregulated and unchecked.

If wizarding Europe is stuck in Victorian England, then the magical US is similar to the Wild West.


	3. The Magical Traditions

**The Magical Traditions**

There are different ways to use magic in the world. Not one is "superior" but each have their pros and cons. Ancient magic is not necessarily better. There's a reason why it's old and not in use, mostly because in the intervening centuries, those spells and rituals have been improved. A computer from the 1960s is not better than a computer from the 2010s. If Harry, for example, finds Merlin's grimoire, it will be valuable for its historical and cultural significance, not because the spells found there will be more powerful. There will probably be spells that wouldn't be found anywhere else (Merlin's personal spells) but they won't necessarily be more powerful or better than spells used in the present day. Power of the magic comes from the caster, not the spell.

Please note that just because they are here, doesn't mean they'll appear in the fic. Also, I offer my sincere apologies if I offend because some of these notes are mythic versions of real world beliefs. Just like witches in Harry Potter are not meant to be related to real-life witches, these are not meant to be accurate representatives of real-life beliefs. This is just to supplement my very fictional world.

**The Hermetic Tradition**

The magic used by the wizards and witches in the Harry Potter series. It harnesses magic by using words of power. This is aided by using implements (such as wands) and rituals. Some have progressed to a degree that they can cast spells without using implements (wandless magic) or by verbalizing the word of power (non-verbal casting).

While the Hermetic Tradition is not the most powerful, it is popular and wide-spread because it is flexible in nature and can easily incorporate different traditions into its spell-casting structure. In this universe, Arithmancy is the study of breaking spells down mathematically. And this is the core of Hermetic magic. By breaking down magic into a common language (numbers) the wizard can play around with it, allowing them to make more efficient versions of a spell or magical effect.

This is the strength of the Hermetic tradition. The creation of inferi is from the Voodoo tradition that was incorporated by the Hermetics. They studied how the houngans animated corpses, broke it down arithmantically, and made their own version with less trappings needed. This is why the Hermetic tradition is dominant in Europe and edged out the Druidic and Runic traditions and why even non-Europeans learn this tradition.

The weakness of this tradition is that it is too easy and breeds laziness in the caster. Arithmancy is an elective rather than a core subject, so only a small percentage of the Hermetics actually make full use of this tradition. Most, and by most I really mean almost all, Hermetic wizards and witches only use the wand and ignore the other implements. They are contemptuous of other magical traditions (other than Potions (not even true Alchemy), Runes and Divination) and because spell-casting is easy for them, they take it for granted.

**Rune Magic**

A rather powerful form of magic. Runic magic basically creates permanent effects. The downside is that it is time-consuming and complicated. The more powerful the effect the caster wants, the more runes he needs to inscribe and use. It's not enough just to inscribe the runes, the placement of the runes is important because runes read backwards, forwards, vertically and diagonally; so it really is an artform. It's fantastic for enchanting objects and creating wards but pretty much useless for on-the-fly casting.

It is one of the oldest forms of magic and almost every culture have their own form of runic magic that developed alongside but separately from each other. The Hermetics use Norse runes, Ogham runes (a carry-over from the druids) and some Greek and Hebrew runes. Taoist magic (calligraphy on paper) is rune-based magic. As a special note, because Blaine's mother is Filipino (a parallel with Darren Criss) she made sure that Blaine is knowledgeable in Philippine rune magic so it might make an appearance in the fic. This is based-off the alibata script.

Where the rune script originated influences the kind of things the runes affect. For example, Norse runes originally dealt with war, battles, protection, navigation and the like. The adoption of the Norse runes by the Hermetics allowed them to, again, use arithmancy to study how runes affect magic and expanded the Norse runic alphabet to do much more than that; so much so that if a Rune Master from two thousand years ago found a NEWT-level Ancient Runes Hogwarts textbook, he would not be able to understand it.

The alibata runes have not undergone that so it is mostly concerned with protection, healing and nature-related magic. The people who created this rune set were hunter/gatherers and fishermen. You can't use alibata runes to create an undectectable expansion charmed-bag; but you can use it, however, to draw animals to a place to make it easier to hunt them, or ward an area against typhoons.

**Alchemy and Potioneering**

Originally part of the Hermetic tradition, alchemy demanded a lot from its students and most set it aside to just focus on wand-work. Potions is the simplified version of Alchemy, which then took a life of its own and expanded and became its own tradition. It's like the difference between cooking and chemistry (Alchemy being chemistry).

Like the Runic tradition, where alchemy originated affects it. Aside from the Hermetics, powerful and skillfull alchemists can be found in the magical parts of Islam, India and China.

Alchemy is not taught in a school setting. Alchemists are very secretive and guard their knowledge very closely, so it is still very much a master-apprentice system. Potioneering on the other hand is taught worldwide. It can be argued that Potioneering evolved when certain alchemical formulas became too well-known. In fact, of all the magical traditions, it is the most universal. It is the closest thing the magical world has to a science. The only things that differ are the ingredients.

**Divination**

Possibly the oldest tradition of magic. Despite McGonnagal's claims, it is not a "wooly" subject. Lesser Divination are ways to divine knowledge without having the Gift of Sight. These are tea-reading, astrology, cartomancy, etc. It is a way to see the greater patterns of the universe into a vessel that can be contained. It's like taking a picture of the Horsehead Nebula, you have to make the make the picture smaller to see it in its entirety. But by doing so, you miss out on a lot of details. Or by opening a map. You can see where England is in relation to Tuscany, but you won't see the roads, or the houses or the people living there. The skill and art in Divination is trying to find useful knowledge with necessarily imperfect tools. In fact, even non-magicals can use Lesser Divination as they use astrology and tea-reading and so on themselves (and in this universe, it does work for them).

Those with the Gift of Sight, however, not only see the entire picture but all the details as well. But the mind is not meant to process so much information so they find different ways to deal with it: oracles speak in riddles, some speak in tongues, others see it in dreams and so on.

Those with the Gift of Sight are called the Children of Destiny. Not because they are destined to do great things but because Destiny has granted them the gift to be able to see a bit of what he has woven.

Seers (as those with the gift are called) manifest the gift in different ways. Luna, for example (in this universe anyway), is a seer and she can see what is hidden. I'm not saying wrackspurts and nargles are real in my fic, but they can be and she definitely sees things that are hidden, even from magicals. Ollivander is a seer, his gift is that he sees what core goes with what wood and every wand he makes is spoken for. He doesn't know who will claim it only that it will be claimed (once claimed, though, the knowledge stays with him which is why he knows what wand each wizard and witch bought from his shop). In certain circles that know of this fact, they are fearful of the day that Ollivander stops making wands. It is one thing if he dies before he stops making wands, as he is not immortal; but the implication of him not making wands before he dies means that eventually there will be a last wizard or witch and no more will be born. Trelawny is a seer, an oracle actually. She is just a terrible teacher.

**Chanting**

This is a modern (in the magical sense, meaning about two to three thousand years old) tradition based off a very ancient one. Ancient chanting was basically prayer, calling for aid from the spirits. In this way it can be argued that it is the oldest form of magic. However Chanting, the modern tradition, uses words, rhythm and beats to harness magic. It like the Hermetic tradition in that it uses words of power, where it differs is that it uses words, a lot of them. Words of power in the Hermetic sense serves as a focus, a trigger where it represents the spell in the mind of the caster. That's why more advanced magic-users can cast it non-verbally. The magic isn't necessarily in the word, the word is just a tool, like the wand, so that the caster can use magic. In Chanting, however, the words are the magic. It's like Rune Magic, but instead of writing it, the magic is spoken. How it's spoken, the tempo, the rhythm and the words used determines the effect.

Like Rune Magic, the more powerful the spell, the longer the chant. It is quite powerful and the only way to protect oneself against a chant is to chant a protection yourself. The first one to tire or flubs a line loses. It's like creating a rune but you are not allowed to make a mistake in the inscribing process. A whole choir of chanters would be hard to overcome.

**Blood Magic**

If Divination is the oldest tradition of magic, Blood Magic is the second oldest but it isn't so much a tradition as it is a qualifier. Blood is possibly the most potent ingredient in the magical world. Any spell, potion or ritual that incorporates blood is considered "blood magic". In the countries where the Hermetic tradition is strong, there is a strong stigma attached to this. Using someone's blood is a surefire way to gain power over them. This is why Blood Magic is so frowned upon in Europe, no matter if it's only one way to use blood to power spells (for example, Lily's protection over Harry incorporated Blood Magic, which is why Voldemort had to use Blood Magic, and Harry's blood, to counter it).

The development of the Imperius Curse by dark wizards was a side-effect of the outlawing of Blood Magic. Using someone's blood to control him is harder to break than an Imperius Curse, but it can be detected, and then traced (Blood Magic is scarily effective, but messy). The Imperius Curse, on the other hand, while it can be resisted cannot be blocked nor can it be traced back to the caster unless you have their wand.

**Shamanism**

This is communing with nature and the spirit world. Not as flashy as the Hermetics but powerful in its own right. Most of the manifestation of this magic is internal (like shapeshifting) or if its external, it manifests in a way that does not draw attention to it. For example if a Hermetic wizard were to electrocute a target he would cast a spell that would create a lightning bolt to jump from the tip of his wand to his target. A shaman would commune with nature then if nature was agreeable, a storm would come and lightning would come from the clouds and strike the target. Not as fast as a wizard but shamans never have to worry about the Statute of Secrecy. And that's not counting powerful shamans who are so in tune with nature and the spirit world that they can pretty much summon a storm in the blink of an eye.

It's because of this that shamanistic wards are very difficult to break by Hermetics because they are hard to detect since they incorporate the surrounding environment. The Hermetics have a hard time incorporating Shamanism into their tradition. They can't copy shapeshifting, for example, the closest they've gotten is the animagus form. A shaman can have multiple animal forms whereas the Hermetic wizard has but one.

Shamanism is "primitive" but don't mistake "primitive" for weak or simple.

**Hermetic Implements**

Wands – popular among European and American wizards and witches, good for fine and delicate work, good all-around implement

Athame – used for blood magic; difficult, almost impossible to use with spells that require aiming

Mirror – used almost exclusively for divination/scrying; also used for illusions and glamors

Staff – used for channeling large amounts of magic; used primarily for wards and area magic that needs no aiming; most spells cast through staves have the staff itself as the point of origin of the spell or the tip, very difficult to use spells that require finesse

Orbs – gives better control than a wand, popular among Hermetic wizards and witches in the East; good all-around: area spells, enchantments etc etc but poor in combat because it is difficult to hold

Cauldron/Bowl/Chalice – potions, scrying

Bells – the Hermetic version of Chanting, using bells instead of chants. It isn't quite as strong as pure Chanting but there is more margins for error

Candles – primarily used for rituals or time-based wards


	4. Magicals, NonMagicals and Sleepers

**Magicals, Non-Magicals and Sleepers**

Among the Republic of Roanoke and Croatan (where Blaine is from) they refer to wizards, witches and other magical beings as "magicals", Muggles as "non-magicals" and Squibs as "sleepers".

Marrying non-magicals have seen the word "Muggle" die out in the US. It's hard to use that word (which sounds patronizing and slightly insulting) when your own mother or husband might be one. So the term "magical" and "non-magical" are used instead ("mundane" was in vogue for awhile but it has fallen out of use). Whenever Blaine hears Harry use "Muggle", he doesn't find it insulting, but he does find it amusing. It's like talking to your friend and he refers to cars as "horseless carriages" or computers as "counting machines" or people referring to asians as "orientals". It's an old word fallen out of use (and yes, still slightly insulting but Blaine is aware that he's in England now, he doesn't have to use the word but he's too well-mannered to impose his value system on others).

Magicals can harness magic. The concept of a "magical core" is fanon. I haven't decided if I'm going to use this concept or not. I like the idea that magical ability is like a skill (granted a skill that is inborn) [credit to Taure]. You don't exhaust your ability to play basketball, it's your body that gets exhausted. The reason that Dumbledore is "powerful" is not that he has a "bigger magical core" but because he's very skilled in using magic. He understands it and knows how to use it well. It's the difference between Jane Austen and Stephenie Meyer - both are writers but there is a difference in skill level, one doesn't have a "bigger writing core" than the other so can write longer and more powerful stories.

The reason I haven't embraced the idea is because like you, I'm so used to the concept of the "magical core" that it's become part of my headcanon for HP. I'm afraid that I'll revert to it half-way through the fic. It won't be necessary in the plot (at least from where I'm sitting right now) so I won't deal with it until I have to.

The difference between sleepers and non-magicals is that sleepers have a drop of magic in them. It's not enough to cast spells or create potions but potions can affect them and they can use SOME magical artifacts (like portkeys and floos but not brooms). What magical items they can use I'll make up as I go along so for now:

**Yes**

potions

portkeys

floos

**No**

wands

brooms

I'll add to this as the story progresses.

This also means that none of these things can be used by a non-magical. A Pepper-Up Potion will work on a sleeper and a magical but might won't work (it might even be toxic) on a non-magical. Likewise, while a non-magical can eat a chocolate frog (it's animated by magic, not by the eater's magic), the candy that the boys ate in the movie that made them do animal sounds (probaly only exists in the movie and isn't canon) won't work on a non-magical.

A non-magical can ride a broom and be taken by a portkey but they can't activate either item. They can reach into Hermione's beaded bag because the bag itself is magical, but if the bag had an activation word, they wouldn't be able to.

Magicals live longer than non-magicals and sleepers fall somewhere in between. Both magicals and sleepers are more resistant to non-magical diseases and immune to some and they heal quicker but there are some magical diseases that ignore non-magicals are dangerous to sleepers and magicals (like myopia - for some reason despite being able to regrow skeletons, magicals can't seem to correct near-sightedness). Sleepers are also vulnerable to some non-magical diseases that don't affect or seriously impair magicals.

This is why despite the Dursleys' treatment of Harry he isn't suffering from the full effects of malnourishment and years of abuse (in my fic anyway) so no need for the "nutrient potions"-plot device. Now that he's eating well, his body bounced back. In the books, Harry was described as skinny and small in the first two books but that description was no longer applied starting in the Prisoner of Azkaban (correct me if I'm wrong) so as far as I'm concerned he's of normal height and, while still lean, it's no longer because of lack of nourishment but because he's constantly running around having adventures.


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